Petitioners seek to overcome
consumer ignorance of calories and ingredients in
the drinks they consume. Consumers are often confused about the source of
the alcohol in some of those drinks (e.g., flavored malt beverages).
Because of inconsistent requirements regarding the labeling of alcohol
content, they may be unaware of the different "serving sizes" for different
drinks, for example, a regular beer versus a malt liquor product.
Today's alcoholic-beverage labels help perpetuate this ignorance and can
only help fuel the obesity epidemic and other serious health and safety
problems related to alcohol consumption.

What the Petition Asks:

The petition asks TTB to issue a
rule that would require that labels of all alcoholic beverages regulated by
TTB include the following information in a standardized format:

the beverage's alcohol content
expressed as a percentage of volume;

the serving size;

the amount of alcohol per serving;

number of calories per serving;

the ingredients (including
additives) from which the beverage is made;

the number of standard drinks per
container; and

the U.S. Dietary Guidelines' advice
on moderate drinking for men and women.

Sample Label:

What You Can Do to Help:

While we are hopeful that TTB will
develop a proposed rule based on our petition, which would then be open for
public comment, further encouragement from consumers is needed. If you
support our efforts to provide consumers of alcoholic beverages with clear,
consistent, and helpful information, please consider weighing in now with
the TTB. Supporters should write to the TTB and urge them to begin
rulemaking on this issue.